Is It Important To Use Certain Colors When Decorating?

It is very important to consider color when planning to decorate your home. In fact, one of the first things you should do when designing a home or office is choose the color or colors you want to use. This will set the tone of the room and the feelings that will be aroused when you are in it.

You need to think of colors for your walls, the fabrics for your furniture and window treatments, and for all the accessories you will fill the room with. That’s not so simple if you are not experienced with choosing colors that relate well to each other, o to the unique needs of your space.

Though scientists don’t completely understand the link between color and mood, it is a scientific fact that color affects mood. And since the colors we choose to live in can definitely affect how we act, think and feel, we should certainly consider the personality of color when choosing a room’s color scheme.

Color is associated with many different aspects in life and is used to express our moods and personalities. A person can be described as being green with envy, feeling blue, tickled pink, or seeing red. Color evokes feelings, and emotions and has always been used as a means of expression. Decorators spend a lot of time assessing how their clients want to feel when they are in their room and providing a solution through color. Because we see color with our hearts, not our heads, we can use color to affect the way we feel and how we do things.

Ancient civilizations believed in the influence of color on humans. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, and Indians used chromotherapy, or healing with color.

Utilizing colors such as red, yellow and orange will evoke energy, and reate energy. These colors warm, cheer and inspire conversation in varying degrees.

Red sparks emotions by stimulating the autonomous nervous system, even causing you to salivate. Think of how you feel when you see a little red Corvett.

Orange and yellow stimulate your senses and helps you move faster. Put these colors to work in activity spaces. If you are dieting, red is not a good color – it can cause you to eat more. It is no accident that many of the brands of fast food chains are in red and yellow – red to make you hungry and yellow to move you quickly.

Pink, a lighter version of red, is the most romantic color. It can also be calming or drain you of energy. Many sports teams paint the opposing team’s locker room pink for that reason.

Pacifying colors such as blue, green and purple stay reservedly in the background. They are cooling and calming and re-energize weary spirits. Cool hues release tension. Put them in rooms for resting and refueling. Blues and purples work meditative wonders. Proud, strong blues help foster a sense of responsibility in the people using that space. Weightlifters have been shown to have more powerful performances in blue rooms.

Purple is the color for dreaming. Do not put purple in a workspace because it works against productivity. Associated with wisdom and spirituality, purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red, taking on the characteristics of either, depending on the shade. Purple can,owever, have a luxurious feel and is associated with wealth and royalty.

Green is safety- it stabilizes and secures, and many people say that it is their favorite color. Green also symbolizes nature and thus promotes a serene and calming environment. Associated with health, healing and well being, green has a soothing effect on the body and mind, reducing anxiety and promoting concentration.

White or light beige colors have a modern appeal, however, the monochromatic look can create boredom after a short period of time. These colors do not provide stimulation, and can be attributed to distraction, as minds can begin to wander when not inspired or bored.

You can harness the mood making energies of color, using them to exhilarate you or tranquilize you, warm you or cool you, prompt you to talk or put you to sleep. We all see the same light, but we connect different feelings, experiences and memories to each color. Think of color as the visual spice of life.

When choosing a room's color scheme, remember that balance is best achieved with a mix of warm and cool colors.

If you find yourself challenged with your next decorating project, it is a good idea to consult with a professional designer or decorator who can lead you in the right direction. The size of your room, the amount of natural lighting, or lack thereof, or existing conditions of the room, like a hardwood floor that you just can't get rid of, create challenges for even the best home designer.

Using on-line tools and home design software is a great way to start identifying design styles, paint colors and furnishings that you like. Although you may be able to select items, and colors here and there that you like, it is sometimes difficult to put it all together so that it makes sense.

The most important part of designing a room is making sure that you have put all of the components together to create the emotion that you are looking to feel when you walk into the room.